Tomato Basil Sandwiches

It’s really a shame about summer being so hot. All of this wonderful produce available–my refrigerator is bursting at the bolts with our CSA veggies–and no desire to cook! The thought of turning a gas burner on makes me wince, and I’d rather just pretend I don’t own an oven.

We’ve been getting particularly beautiful tomatoes from Red Fire Farm. I have a confession, though. I’m not a huge fan of raw tomatoes. I tend to eat around them. They get picked out of sandwiches halfway through and blatantly ignored in salads. I discovered that cooking them, even just slightly, makes a world of difference.

I LOVE slightly cooked tomatoes! They are the perfect sandwich filler.

And slightly cooked anything is good in this heat. This is a light, summery sandwich I made for lunch. It’s quick, easy, tasty, and takes advantage of the enormous amounts of summer tomatoes and basil we have at our disposal. I’ve spread the sourdough with Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, which is really one of the best vegan cheese products out there.

Heat a skillet over medium heat with oil and herbs. Once hot, add tomatoes in one layer. Give the pan a little shake and flip the tomatoes about. Add salt. Once they are beginning to soften, but not falling apart, add a splash of balsamic vinegar while shaking the pan. Turn off heat. This process should only take a few minutes.

Spread your bread with tofutti, add chopped basil and pepper. Place tomatoes on top of that. Grill sandwich with a weight on top. If you’re not grilling, simply toast the bread first, then add tofutti and tomatoes. Enjoy! I’m going to go clean out my freezer so I can crawl inside it.

PS – I’m incredibly flattered to have been nominated in the 2007 VegNews Veggie Awards!! If you’re feeling so inclined, pop over and vote for me in the food blog category. Thanks!!

50 comments

That Tofutti cream cheese is so interesting! And this is a great idea – kind of like a vegan-friendly bruschetta in sandwich form! You always have great ideas! Could you substitute heirloom tomatoes for Roma, or no?

i reaaally want to try one of the slightly cooked tomato sandwiches. but i’m scared! raw tomatoes are my least favourite food in the world and even sundried tomatoes i can only handle in certain amounts. these do make me want to be brave… we’ll see !

This weather is killing me too. Boston is too hot. I’ve got a huge CSA backlog as well because I just can’t bear to make anything around me hotter than it already is. The sandwich looks great though–maybe just the inspiration I need to make something rather than going out for falafel…again.

I have been constantly wondering about toffutti cream cheese…I am a little reluctant to buy it but I want to try it. Is it any good and does it taste close to cream cheese? My stomach can’t handle normal dairy. Your site is beautiful by the way. Lovely pictures.

This sandwich is a summer time winner! I love tomatoes anyway except dried. Seems like when they put the dried ones on a pizza they are hard when you get them. Maybe I would like them if they were cooked right.

Wow, this looks good, kinda like the bruschetta…will surely try it! I dropped by on your site for the first time and would like to tell u that u have a nice blog here..good luck with your award nomination.

Oh my, what a fabulous looking sandwich. While I do like raw tomatoes, I also like a semi-dried / cooked one too. Thanks for the suggestions. We can’t get the Tofutti produce here in Australia, but yesterday I read a recipe for a marinated tofu and cheese spread, that would go perfectly.

drool, roasted tomatoes are freakin’ awesome. i made vegan “sloppy joes” last night and used muir glen fire roasted diced tomatoes as a short cut, and the flavor was so amazing, sweet and roasty and oh so good

ah i no longer have to drool, went to my local earthfare and picked up some delish organic roma tomatoes, organic basil, a small sour dough loaf, and tofutti. ah, dinner tonight will be divine. isn’t good food freakin’ awesome?

I’ve never been able to stand eating raw tomatoes. I just recently managed to eat a raw bruschetta and only b/c the bread was so good. Cooked tomatoes are fine, but ick on the raw! I’ve always marveled at people’s cream cheese and tomato sandwiches; it never occurred to me to cook the tomatoes a little first! I’ll have to try it.

I made this last night along with your nearly raw tahini noodles, and it was amazing! I have a new favorite sandwich.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find sourdough bread in my neighborhood so I substituted a baguette, which was very, very good, but messy on the first try. For our second helpings (yes, it was that yummy), we didn’t cut the baguette all the way through, so the tomatoes didn’t slither out. Delicious!

I just discovered your website late last week, and have been drooling over all your recipes since! So today I tried this sandwich, and all I can say is, THANK YOU!!! It was soo good, and amazing, and spectacular!!! You’re brilliant! And I cant wait to try everything on this site!